I made a rare visit to my local garden centre last week as I had a couple of vouchers to use and was passing by anyway. Not a lot I particularly needed but didn’t want to miss out on £7 worth of vouchers which were due to expire the following day. Scoured the Manager’s reduction shelves & was almost tempted by some winter pansies but opted instead for a marjoram plant for £1 and then some reduced sedums (I do occasionally buy some inedible plants!) as I already have a few and wanted a few more for a planned display next year.
I tried to avoid the seeds but my eye was caught by a sign which said “plant now” and this piqued my curiosity. The display included a few microgreens and winter lettuces, none of which took my fancy but there was also a red kale with the unprepossessing name of KX-1. Sold by Thompson & Morgan it promised ‘attractive kale for baby leaf and full maturity’ and priced at £2.49 (£2.99 on their website). Interestingly the packet gives different growing instructions than the website – the packet suggests sowing under glass or indoors from October through to March for use as baby leaves. A bit of scouting around online I discovered that this is, as I suspected from the lack of a more descriptive name, a newly developed variety, originating in the US and developed by Vilmorin North America and now being grown in the UK to meet the demand for kale for bagged salads for supermarkets. And also with added nutritional benefits as it has much higher iron content even than spinach – and apparently in a more easily digestible form. So an enhanced superfood!
So definitely unlike the heirloom varieties I’m normally attracted to. But I will be planting them and growing on my kitchen windowsill this weekend – and should be starting to pick them in 35 days as baby leaves. And if they look as attractive as on the packet they’ll help to brighten up a dreary January day. Watch this space….
My Plenty Food Project 